Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 14(2), April 2015, pp. 183-190 Survey of wild food plants for human consumption in Geçitli (Hakkari, Turkey) İdris Kaval1, Lütfi Behçet2 & Uğur Çakilcioğlu3* 1Yuzuncu Yıl University, Department of Biology, Van 65000, Turkey; 2Bingöl University, Department of Biology, Bingöl 12000, Turkey; 3Tunceli University, Pertek Sakine Genç Vocational School, Pertek, Tunceli 62500, Turkey E-mails:
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[email protected] Received 15 July 2014, revised 22 January 2015 This study aims to record accumulation of knowledge on plants which are used as food by native people of Geçitli (Hakkari, Turkey) that has a rich culture and a very natural environment. In addition, the medical uses of these plants were compiled from the literature. Study area was located on the East of Anatolian diagonal, in the Eastern Anatolia region. Field study was carried out over a period of approximately two years (2008-2010). During this period, 84 vascular plant taxa were collected. The plants were pressed in the field and prepared for identification. A total of 84 food plants belonging to 30 families were identified in the region. In the study being conducted, use of wild plants as food points out interest of people in Geçitli in wild plants. The fact that a large proportion of edible plants are also being used for medicinal purposes indicates that the use of wild plants has a high potential in the region. The present study shows that further ethnobotanical investigations are worthy to be carried out in Turkey, where most of knowledge on popular food plants are still to discover.